iPhone News Updated

iPhone and iPod Touch users to get FM radio

website claims hardware is already built into devices

According to the website 9to5 Mac, the FM tuner is built into the hardware and already supports the Nike+ peripherals. Adding a tuner application, supposedly now under development at Apple, would ensure FM broadcasts could be lsitend to on the devices. reception of FM broadcasts as well.

The website also said the new app is supposedly being delayed while Apple adds a song tagging capability to the application, allowing users listening to stations that support tagging to order songs from the iTunes Store while they are still playing on the radio.

It is also presumed the new FM application would enable pausing a broadcast, as is already possible on iPod Nano devices. And it raises the possibility of receiving real-time traffic and other data off the subcarriers of FM broadcast stations.

iPhones and iPod touch devices have had FM-receive capabilities for some time, but the newest models can do something else: Broadcast FM signals, perhaps to a car radio or home stereo system. Also included is an 802.11n capability on the 5GHz. band. Neither feature is currently enabled - or even acknowledged - by Apple.

9to5 Mac said: “This wouldn’t be the first time Apple awoke sleeping hardware functionality from its mobile products. Apple sometimes chooses to leave hardware features dormant in their products until they feel the time is right”.

“For instance, Apple did not enable Bluetooth in its 2nd generation iPod touch until 9 months after it was released. Apple also has not enabled the 802.11N +5GHZ wireless networking (which we also hope to see updated shortly) in its latest iPhone and iPods.”

FM broadcast reception is something most customers will not use, but will be much appreciated by a handful. The FM broadcast capability would make it easy to hear an iPhone or iPod through a car stereo system, something that today requires a sometimes-expensive aftermarket adapter.

The big win would be the addition of 802.11n wireless, which should improve both speed and range for LAN and hotspot connectivity, where it’s supported. Of the bunch, this is the feature I hope Apple releases soon.

[Thanks: http://www.macvideo.tv]

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